All entries

957 entries so far, best known first. 5,249 more are on the list to be written. Narrow by region, kind, purpose, practitioner, belief world, occasion or how alive it is.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇮🇳 IndiaNechung Oracleགནས་ཆུང་ཏ་བླ་མ The official prophetic medium and spiritual advisor to Tibet's Dalai LamaOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living

🇨🇳 China and 3 moreTang-ki童乩 (tóngjī); 乩童 (jītóng) A Chinese folk-religion medium whose body a deity is held to take overTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living

🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreMediumship The practice of mediating communication between the living and spirits of the dead.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreZārزار A spirit possession tradition and healing ritual in the Horn of Africa and Middle EastTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreEusapia Palladino An Italian medium whose séances were investigated by leading scientists and magicians in the late nineteenth century.Illusion · Wonder and entertainment · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSéance A gathering to communicate with spirits, ranging from religious services to stage performances.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Living 🇫🇷 FrancePlanchette A wooden device for automatic writing used in Victorian spiritualist séancesCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 1 moreDhikrذِكْر Islamic remembrance of God through repeated recitation and prayerRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇭🇹 HaitiGedeGuédé A family of spirits in Haitian Vodou who guard the dead and grant fertility.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇫🇷 France and 5 moreKardecist SpiritismSpiritisme A French spiritualist doctrine based on communication with spirits and reincarnation.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇧🇷 Brazil and 3 moreBatuque An Afro-Brazilian religion with spirit possession and a pantheon of Orixás and encantadosTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreDaniel Dunglas Home A Scottish physical medium known for levitation and spirit communication during the Victorian era.Belief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇺🇸 United StatesFox sisters Three sisters from New York who launched the Spiritualism movement with spirit rapping séancesTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇻🇳 Vietnam and 4 moreLên đồng A Vietnamese ritual where mediums enter trance to channel spiritsRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇯🇵 JapanMount Osore恐山 A volcanic pilgrimage site in Japan believed to be a gateway to the underworldTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living

🇯🇵 JapanItakoイタコ Blind women in Japan who train to channel spirits and communicate with the dead.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Fading 🇭🇹 HaitiVodou veve (sample)Vèvè Ground drawings that call the lwa.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Tang-ki: Bunkichi Chang, CC BY 2.0, source
Mediumship: Harvey Metcalfe, Public domain, source
Zār: Emad Nemati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Eusapia Palladino: Baldi., Public domain, source
Séance: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Dhikr: Eugène Baugnies, Public domain, source
Gede: Calvin Hennick, for WBUR Boston, CC BY 3.0, source
Kardecist Spiritism: Coprosme, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Daniel Dunglas Home: Nadar, Public domain, source
Fox sisters: N. Currier (Firm), Public domain, source
Lên đồng: Khangoii, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Mount Osore: Douglas P Perkins ( Douglaspperkins ( talk )), CC BY 3.0, source
Itako: User Geomr~commonswiki self upload, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Nechung Oracle: Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, source

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Photo credits on this page

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